Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polymers. More particularly, the invention pertains to novel and useful polymers comprising a carbon-oxygen backbone having a dioxycarbon moiety with a plurality of organic groups pendant from the dioxycarbon. The polymers are represented by the following general formula: ##STR2## WHEREIN R.sub.1 is a di, tri or tetravalent alkylene, alkenylene, alkyleneoxy, cycloalkylene, cycloalkylene substituted with an alkyl, alkoxy or alkenyl, cycloalkenylene, cycloalkenylene substituted with an alkyl, alkoxy or alkenyl, arylene, or a arylene substituted with an alkyl, alkoxy or alkenyl, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxy, alkenyloxy, alkylene, alkenylene, alkyleneoxy, alkenyleneoxy, alkylenedioxy, alkenylenedioxy, aryloxy, aralkyleneoxy, aralkenyleneoxy, aralkylenedioxy, aralkenylenedioxy, oxa, or OR.sub.1 O with R.sub.1 defined as above; and wherein, a) R.sub.1 is divalent when R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxy, or alkenyloxy, with at least one of R.sub.2 or R.sub.3 an alkoxy or alkenyloxy; b) R.sub.1 is divalent when R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are intramolecularly covalently bonded to each other and to the same dioxycarbon atom to form a heterocyclic ring or a heterocyclic ring substituted with an alkyl, alkoxy or alkenyl when R.sub.2 is an alkyleneoxy or alkenyleneoxy and R.sub.3 is an alkyleneoxy, alkenyleneoxy or alkylene; c) R.sub.1 is divalent when R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are intramolecularly covalently bonded to each other and to the same dioxy carbon atom to form a fused polycyclic ring or a fused polycyclic ring substituted with an alkyl, alkoxy or alkenyl when R.sub.2 is an oxa, alkyleneoxy or alkenyleneoxy and R.sub.3 is aryloxy, aralkyleneoxy, aralkenyleneoxy or aralkylene; d) R.sub.1 is divalent when R.sub.2 or R.sub.3 is an OR.sub.1 O bridge between polymer backbones bonded through their dioxycarbon moieties, and the other R.sub.2 or R.sub.3 is an alkyl, alkenyl, alkyloxy, or alkenyloxy; e) R.sub.1 is tri or tetravelent when R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are covalently bonded to each other and to the same dioxycarbon atom to form a heterocyclic ring or a heterocyclic ring substituted with an alkyl, alkoxy or alkenyl when R.sub.2 is an alkyleneoxy or alkenyleneoxy and R.sub.3 is an alkyleneoxy, alkenyleneoxy or alkylene; f) R.sub.1 is tri or tetravalent when R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are covalently bonded to each other and to the same dioxy carbon atom to form a fused polycyclic ring or fused polycyclic ring substituted with an alkyl, alkoxy or alkenyl when R.sub.2 is an oxa, alkyleneoxy or alkenyleneoxy and R.sub.3 is aryloxy, aralkyleneoxy, aralkenyleneoxy or aralkylene.
The polymers provided by the invention include homopolymers, copolymers of the random and block types formed by reacting monomers or mixtures of preformed homopolymers and/or copolymers, branched polymers and cross-linked polymers. The invention also makes available to the art thermoplastic linear polymers when R.sub.1 is divalent, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are substituted with a noncross-linking group or are bonded intramolecularly; thermosetting cross-linked polymers when R.sub.1 is divalent and R.sub.2 or R.sub.3 is intermolecularly bonded between different polymeric backbones; and, thermosetting cross-linked polymers when R.sub.1 is tri or tetravalent and R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are substituted with noncross-linking groups, or bonded intramolecularly.